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Re: terms: window/dialog

> I've been happily writing along for a few years using
> "window" as a description of everything in the
> Windows interface with a title bar, fields, and buttons,
> and today a programmer was telling me that when
> you can't resize the "window," it's a dialog.
>
> Have I been ignoring a standard naming convention?

Yup. And there are many variations on what you find in a window: dialog boxes,
fields, buttons, etc.

> What do you call these objects: windows or dialogs?

Depends on what you're describing. Get yourself a copy of Microsoft Manual of
Style and start reading about windows and other objects. Most of us use
Microsoft's definitions as a default.

> How much does it matter? (Have I erred egregiously?)

Depends on how much your clients want their terms to be industry-standard. And
when you're writing for programmers, you usually need to be more precise in
terms like that, since it matters what the objects are called.